ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT WILL YOU TAKE FROM THE SAGE RESULTS?
JULIAN YATES | INVESTEC
Underlying (ex healthcare disposal) profits were a touch ahead of our
estimates, but the outlook suggests profit growth will slow… The company is continuing to invest in bringing new technologies to market which means margins are likely to flat-line in FY12 … we see no reason to turn move positive at this stage.
ROGER PHILIIPS | EVOLUTION SECURITIES
Hard to call the initial reaction due to the disparity in consensus versus actual results due to the healthcare business discontinuation, but a sensible beat to earnings per share and dividend up 25 per cent should see the shares back above 300p in time.
WILL WALLIS | NUMIS SECURITIES
Finals are in line with expectations, complicated by the treatment of the disposal of healthcare and one-time lower tax. Growth has remained steady, cash generation is strong as expected, and the dividend has been rebased up by 25 per cent… Looking forwards there appears little here to change forecasts.